


After Resting in Peace

by EmpressDiamond



Category: Saints Row
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Anger, Anger Management, Discipline, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gaming, Gangs, Gangsters, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Male Homosexuality, Original Character(s), Parody, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Parents, Protectiveness, Punishment, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Vandalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressDiamond/pseuds/EmpressDiamond
Summary: Shogo Akuji has recently been buried alive courtesy of the Saints. However, his reaction to it is about as much his age as the punishment he receives at the hands of his elder sister. After all, he really needs something to bring him back to reality after spending so much time on the admittedly very advanced - yet expensive - MMORPG Saints Row. Takes place during the 'SR2' era but admittedly, the time in this timeline passes by a little differently than what you may be used to.





	After Resting in Peace

> _No, please….no_
> 
> _Just kill me, but don’t to this!_
> 
> _Kill me, damn it! Don’t do this!_
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” and that was the scream of the young Japanese man known as Shogo Akuji (or alternatively Akuji Shogo). He was a young, early 20’s, and handsome male. Kept his body, skin and hair in pristine condition. His pajamas were golden and made of the finest silks, his spiked black hair hair sporting golden yellow dyed tips even. However, he was more than pissed off. “YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! YOU FUCKING FUCKS! I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL ALL OF YOU PIECES OF SHIT! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! SHOGO MOTHERFUCKING AKUJI!”

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Shogo grabbed his keyboard and chucked it at the wall of his bedroom. It didn’t shatter to pieces, but many of it’s keys scattered all over the place. He also slammed his headphones down to the floor and kicked them, only to trip himself on the wire and with a loud:

“FUCK!” he fell right on his ass to the floor. When he looked up, what he saw on his computer screen only made him even more furious. A mostly black screen save for the famous ‘flaming circle’ Ultor logo, with white text overlayed on top of said logo:

* * *

 

> _Developed & Published by Ultor_
> 
> _We Here at the Ultor Michigan Studio would like to thank you for your valued playing of our Saints Row ™ game! Unfortunately for yourself, you have now become deceased. Your character can no longer be played in Saints Row ™ but can still be uploaded to any other Ultor game that allows such a feature. You will have to make a new one. In addition, you now will have your account disabled from participating in gameplay for the next 24 Hours, though will still be able to use the online chat feature and are still subject to the monthly payment fee._
> 
> _We appreciate your dedicated service to our game._
> 
> _Ultor_
> 
> _A Brighter Future, and a Better Life_
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

Shogo found his rage impossible to contain at that point.

“Watashi wa kono koto ni tsuite watashi ga omoukoto o anata ni oshietekurerudeshou, Ultor!” with that having been said - in Japanese - he went to his closet and picked up into his hands a baseball bat that he had from when he was a child. He used it to relentlessly pummel the tower of his computer while mercilessly cursing and swearing at it. He beat it like it was garbage until the monitor only displayed the infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ - at which point he grabbed it and tried to pick it up and throw it. However, while his body was beautiful and fit he was no bodybuilder by any means and instead ended up dropping it onto his feet.

He let out a shrill squeal when he felt it crash down on him, and after recovering:

“Anata wa meinu no o shiri konpyūta!” he kicked it. The kick caused more damage to his foot than it did to the computer monitor.

Wincing and bouncing while holding said foot, he glared angrily at the computer before deciding to pick up the bat and just throw it at the monitor. It scratched the screen but for the most part just bounced right off of it. Irritated by this, he said coldly:

“So that’s how you wanna play, huh, little bitch?” he walked to his closet - with a slight wobble due to the damage to his feet - and picked out not a bat but a GAL 43 SMG gun. Putting ammunition into it: “This is what you fucking get you fuck!” and he let loose a torrent of bullets right into the computer monitor.

Needless to say, it accomplished what he wanted it to. He wasted an entire magazine of bullets before he just threw the gun right at the now destroyed beyond repair monitor. He even spat on it as if for good measure.

His celebrations were cut short however, when his slide-open door had loud banging coming from the other side of it - alerting him to it. He could hear an incredibly angry voice from the other side:

“SHOGO! SHUT THE FUCK UP! IT’S TWO IN THE GOD DAMN MORNING, NOBODY FEELS LIKE HEARING YOU SCREAM LIKE A HARPY AT TWO IN THE MORNING!”

“OH SHUT UP, SISTER!” Shogo screamed back, “NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY!”

“DO YOU WANT ME TO COME IN THERE?!”

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, BITCH!”  
  
“SHOGO!” that voice was not his sister, but his father. A voice that when angry made Shogo go from anger to fear immediately. “BE SILENT! AND I HOPE FOR YOUR SAKE YOU REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU BEFORE ABOUT RESPECTING YOUR SISTER!”

“Y-yes…” Shogo gulped a bit, “I remember, father.”

Following a moment of him finally being silent, he could hear the sound of both his sister and father storming back off to their bedrooms. He turned to his broken computer and rubbed the back of his head as he heard more soft knocking on his door, and a sweeter feminine voice coming from the other end:

“Shogo? My little dragon, is everything alright in there?”

“Y-yes, mother….everything’s fine….”

“Are you sure? You were making a lot of noise in there. Do you need me to come in there?”

“N-no, everything’s fine! Don’t worry, but, I may need a computer…….”

“Alright, I’ll tell your father to buy you a new one as soon as he’s, well, calmed. You just get some rest, okay? You and I both know how important beauty sleep is~”

“Of course, mother.”

“Love you, my little dragon prince~”

“Love you too, mother.”

With a sigh and further silence, Shogo looked around his room for a bit before complying to his mother’s wishes. There wasn’t anything left to do and anyone he could call to chat with was probably asleep at this hour anyway. So he got into his bed and fell asleep. However, when one spends most of their day playing a game up to 2 o’clock in the morning, one sleeps for a long time. For Shogo, he slept for ten entire hours. Right up to 1:30 pm.  He didn’t even notice the time either as he woke up, yawned, stretched, noticed his room was still left a mess, got up to do his morning bathroom rituals - shaving, waxing, eyebrow trimming, tooth brushing, hair styling, blemish prevention creams and numerous other grooming rituals - which by the time he had finished it was going on 2:45 pm. When he finally did step out of the bathroom walked into the main living room of his residence - the top floor suite of a luxury hotel, the first thing he heard was:

“Kazuo!” his mother’s voice spoke pleadingly, “How am I supposed to order things online now? Or check my email?!”  
  
“Watch shopping channels, or stop spending my money at such a quantity! Between you and Shogo 50% of my entire income is used for all of you two’s unnecessary purchases!”

“Well it’s not me who decided to impale our computer with a katana sword!”

“I have my reasons for what I did!”

“I know.”

“That had better not be sarcasm in your tone of voice, Honami. Because I recall the first thing you told me once I woke from my rest was that Shogo needed a new computer purchased for himself. I hope you two realize that computers are not the cheapest things on this planet to purchase, especially the ones that are made with any actual quality.”

“Kazuo, it’s not going to bankrupt us for you to purchase two new computers.”

“Us.” the oyabun huffed, “By us you mean me. Me and Kiyumi are the only ones in this entire family who have our own income at all, and the other two so-called adults in this household use up more than half of mine.”

“Mother?” Shogo said as he walked into the room, “Father? Is everything alright?”

The two parent Akujis turned to the direction Shogo’s voice came from as he walked into room and a moment of silence fell onto them. The two Akuji parents gave Shogo different reactions. His father, in his senior years was seemingly always grumpy and/or irritated as well as dressed in business suits usually intimidated him. His mother, who was younger than Kazuo though admittedly had extensive cosmetic surgery operations done on her and had a much more positive relationship with Shogo. She had one notable feature - a missing left eye covered by a black (With golden dragon decal) eyepatch, resulting from eye cancer roughly 10 years prior. As for the parents’ response to their son:

“Yes” Honami assured him, “Everything is fine, sweetheart.”

“If you consider yourself making me have to pay for a new computer ‘fine’!” Kazuo snapped, making Shogo flench a bit from the sudden anger.

“Kazuo! He didn’t mean to do it!”

“He didn’t? Do tell me how that is true, Honami. I am interested in hearing your latest excuse for his behaviour.”

“You know how tempers are in this family” Honami responded, going up to Shogo and putting a hand over his shoulder, “After all, you yourself impaled your computer with your sword over your failure.”

Shogo’s eyes widened and he wanted to laugh about that, but he knew very well what would happen if he did, so he made sure to hold it in. Kazuo wasted no time in snapping back at Honami:

“How dare you, I did not fail! It was only, a temporary error. I will have my revenge.”

“Sure you will.”

“Of course, that does bring up another subject. The monthly payment fee. I fail to see why I have to pay 30 dollars a month to those corporate fools while Shogo only has to pay a reduced 16 a month. Or, really I should say I have to pay 46 dollars a month for both me and Shogo. At least Jyunichi paid for himself!”

“Kazuo! You know how much that game means to Shogo!” Honami stepped in to defend their son, “It was teaching him how to lead!”

Shogo nodded to agree with his mother, having a face that was hopeful perhaps his father would finally agree with him and her. However, Kazuo had other responses in mind:

“Oh really? All I saw is that he just recreated his life in that virtual world, living the exact same way as he does in real life. He forced both me and Jyunichi into it because he ‘needed’ our assistance, betrayed Jyunichi for the most petty of reasons, and then got himself killed by attacking a funeral! If that is being taught how to lead, then I must be the next in line for the Chrysanthemum Throne!”

Shogo bowed his head and remained respectfully silent as his father continued on:

“Frankly” he said, “I have half a mind to cancel all playing of that game in this entire household, if not just for Shogo. Paying for something that he’s just going to lie to me about the purpose of is not worth so much in monthly payments!”

“I…I didn’t lie to you, father” Shogo responded in a soft, pleading tone of voice, “I, I really was trying to learn about being a better leader!”

“Lying to my face, Shogo? Pretending that I didn’t see what I saw?”

“Um…..n-no…father…I’m not lying to you.”

“Then what are you doing right now?”  
  
“I….don’t know….”  
  
“Of course you don’t, because you are an idiot.”

“Kazuo!” Honami snapped, “Don’t be so mean to him! All you ever do is insult him! It’s not fair, all he wants is to make you proud of him, can’t you see that?”

“All he wants is for me to treat him like you do!”

“That’s not true!”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know my son very well, all he wants is for you to be nice to him for at least one day, why can’t you do that?”

“As I repeat, what he wants is for me to dote on him and spoil him like you do, which I am not about to do.”

“Fine” Honami sighed, “But still, I think you should at least purchase him - and us - a new computer.”

“Only because I need the one for myself as well” Kazuo spoke harshly, “But I don’t want to hear anymore about that useless game. If he must play it, he will have to find his own source of income or someone else to pay for it! I am not paying for it anymore!”

“But Father, I-”

“I don’t want to hear it Shogo, be grateful that I am taking time out of my visit to America to purchase this new computer for you after the episode you had in your room last night!”

“……y-yes….Father…”

“After I purchase these new computers though, me and your mother are heading back to Japan. There’s business I need to take care that came up over the night, and I need to return as soon as possible to finish it. Is it up to your sister whether she will stay any longer or not.”

Shogo nodded silently, knowing it best not to speak up or out of turn with Kazuo. Honami patted Shogo on the shoulder and kissed his cheek however, something which made Shogo smile and give her a soft hug in response. Kazuo said nothing, he merely left the building with the intent of getting the two purchases he had to make over with. After he was gone, Shogo turned to his mother and said some words:

“Thank you for sticking up for me, mother.”

“Oh it is nothing, my sweet little dragon~” Honami kissed her son on the forehead and gently brushed his cheeks, “Anything for you, my handsome young man~”

“Heheh…..by the way, where is Jyunichi? I was going to ask if he could clean up my room and haul out the broken stuff.”

“Oh, he’s out at the moment.”

“Doing what?”  
  
“The usual work you have him do every day.”  
  
“Wha? But it’s like, I just got up!”

“Oh, sweetie, you didn’t check the time, it’s almost three in the afternoon now.”  
  
“THREE IN THE AFTERNOON?!”

“Oh little dragon it’s okay!” she cooed to him, “Your night life will be very vibrant tonight at least with plenty of time to stay up late and have fun!”

“I…I slept for over ten hours?!”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. Oh, that reminds me, are you hungry? I can order room service if you are.”  
  
“No, it’s fine, mother. I’ll order my food for myself, but thanks for asking.”

“Very well, my prince” and she gave him another hug and kiss on the cheek, “Just remember if you ever have any problem you can come talk to me about it.”

“I know, mom~”

“Alright~ Now you go do your thing, have fun~”

“On it, mom!”

With that having been said, Shogo went out of the room and back to his personal bedroom, where he intended to get dressed for the day. His yellow polo - with collar popped, his fancy black leather jacket with golden dragon themed decals always worn open, his black leather skinny jeans, his yellow/black sneakers all bought and paid for - with Kazuo’s money - from the Ultor corporation. Even the sunglasses he always wore with his outfit were from Ultor. The only thing he had that was from Ultor was his necklace - that was a gift from his mother.

Once he stepped out of his room, he was right on his way trying to rush out the building when another member of the family held out an arm to stop him just as he tried to get to the exit. It was his sister, Kiyumi. His older sister by six or so years. She had her hair in a fancy bun style, with makeup and earrings all on. Her clothing being a black jacket, yellow shirt and black skinny jeans with heeled boots. She also had a scarf on that had traditional golden dragon details. The first thing Shogo said was an immediately aggravated:

“Out of my way, I got shit to do.”

“Hold it. I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“I just need to you watch Tomoyuki for me today.”

“Why can’t you watch him? Or Jyunichi? Father? Mother?”  
  
“Father’s busy and preparing to leave as soon as he gets back. Mother will leave with him and I know full well how she’d handle being alone with him. Jyunichi’s busy too. As for Kameko she’s busy too before you even ask.”

“I have business to do, Kiyumi! Incase you forgot, I gotta  get to the Ultor Phillips Building! My work?!”

“That’s cute, your ‘work’.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
“Remind me what kind of work you do for Ultor.”

“Modeling, Voice Acting, Casino and Porn site managing, and Protection Rackets.”

“Oh, right. You voice act that furry version of yourself in those video games and television shows.”

“Hey! Solar is practically Ultor’s mascot! Besides, isn’t it Tomo’s favourite game series? He plays that Suncast like no tomorrow! Even beats ME at Solar Adventure 2 most of the time! Which I still chalk up to me playing the Yakuza series nowadays but ya know.”

“Just saying, he acts like a toned down version of you half the time. But yes, it is.”

“Now if you don’t excuse me, I’m busy too. Besides, Tomo’s ten. He can probably take care of himself if you’d let him.”

“Shogo, please. Don’t act like you don’t like spending time with him, and like he doesn’t like spending time with you.”

“I’m not. I’m telling you I think he’s old enough to look after himself at home. Besides, we actually are part of a Yakuza gang…people would have to have a death wish to come storming up in here, especially if they wanted to try kidnapping or hurting him.”  
  
“Stop making me paranoid!”

“Kiyumi……you baby him so much, like, good lord! I know he’s adorable, he totally got the good looks from my side of the gene pool, but come on! He still doesn’t know how to use a sword or fire a gun! I learned that when I was even younger!”

“Shogo…..”

“What? You know it’s true!”

“I just…….I can’t help it, what I went through to just be able to give birth to him……maybe it did make me overprotective, but….”

Shogo’s face then turned from annoyance to sympathy as he put a hand on his sister’s shoulder and looked to her with a much more kinder expression, saying to her:

“I know, Kiyumi. I know. But….” he then sighed, “Alright, I’ll spend time with him today. But I can’t just stay in the hotel all day.”

“Fine.”

“On one condition though.”  
  
“What is it?”

“That you pay for my new subscription to Saints Row after father leaves.”

“………..excuse me?”

“What?”

“Shogo are you fucking serious? You really can’t fucking pay for that damn thing yourself?”

“It’s only 16 a month! You make like, more than that in a week! You handle all of father’s business stuff and shit! He even lets you deal with the under-bosses when he’s too busy! You really can’t pay for this favor?”

“It’s. A. Fucking. Game. Plus, it’s only 16 for you because of your deal with Ultor! It’s 30 a month for everyone else which I find fucking ridiculous!”

“It’s very important to me! It’s a teaching tool!”  
  
“Oh bullshit! You literally just recreated the life you live here in that virtual world! It didn’t teach you a damn thing about leading! Besides, it costs me enough to support myself and Tomoyuki, I can’t be spending shit on you just because you get cut off!”

“I’m not cut off! Father just doesn’t want to pay the money for the game anymore.”

“For good reason. You make your own money, baby brother, but yet you still make mother convince father to pay for everything you want just so you can ‘save more’, and when you do spend too much, you always ask me or them to bail you out.”

“Shut up, I’m not a baby!”

“Shogo, I remember when I used to change your diapers. So sorry, but you will always be my baby brother to me.”

“Ew.”

“Oh shut up. I used to do all your homework for you too.”

“Until you decided to fail me on purpose!”

“At which point mother started doing it for you! Did your teachers even know what your handwriting actually looked like?”  
  
“Shut. Up!”

“Look, just watch Tomoyuki for me today.”

“Only if you agree you pay for my game subscription!”

“SHOGO!”

“I’M SERIOUS!”

“SERIOUSLY CHILDISH!”

“I’M NOT DOING IT UNLESS YOU SAY YES!”

“UGH! YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!” Kiyumi finally surrendered, “FINE! I’ll pay for it, but I don’t wanna hear ANY lip from you for ANYTHING. One MOMENT of disrespecting me after this and you’re on your own!”

“Fine!”

“Alright” and with a sigh, Kiyumi turned to another direction to call out, “TOMOYUKI! COME, YOUR UNCLE IS GOING TO BE WATCHING YOU FOR THE DAY!”

Within moments the pitter patter of small feet could be heard as young Tomoyuki Akuji - often just called ‘Tomo’ for short - came rushing to where Shogo and Kiyumi were. Tomoyuki was an adorable little lad, his eyes beamed with childhood innocence, his face was perfectly clear, his hair down but stylishly ruffled and wavy, and usually he wore yellow and black - typically a yellow polo, black undershirt, black jacket and either pants or shorts that were black depending on how he felt. An excitable 10 year old boy, he ran up and hugged his uncle immediately, and Shogo returned it with a smile and patted him on the head.

“Yay!” Tomo chirped, “We’re gonna have some fun today, right Uncle Shogo?”  
  
“You bet, kiddo” Shogo responded, and was ready to walk out the door immediately when Kiyumi stopped them:  
  
“Hold it!”

“Moooooooom!”

“What? I’m just going to remind you to be on your best behavior with your uncle, no matter what he tells you to do if it’s bad, don’t do it!”

“I know, I know, I know!”

“Tomo…..I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kiyumi then smiled and hugged her son, Tomo returning it.

“Be a good boy.” she said as she parted from the hug.

“I will.”

“And try to be a good boy too, Shogo.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”  
  
“What did I say about disrespecting me?”

“That doesn’t count!”

“Watch it.”

“Okay, look, we’re gonna be going now. I’m already running more than fashionably late.”

“Fine, go. You two have fun, and if you endanger him I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Please, do I look like someone who’d endanger him? Or do I look like someone who’d kill the idiot who tries?”

“Alright……bye…..and I love you both.”

“Love ya sis bye!” and then Shogo turned to Tomo and winked. The two were off out of the door like wildfire practically. Kiyumi softly laughed, she couldn’t help but admire how much Tomo really did look up to and bond with his uncle - even though him doing so still concerned her. Regardless, she had her own busy schedule to stick to and wasted no time in going off to do so. Meanwhile, Shogo and Tomo were off on their own adventures.

First and foremost, Shogo got into his car instead of Kaneda bike. His car was specifically a customized Wakazashi car - decked out with Ronin decals, yellow paint, yellow tinted windows, a roof in case of rain, platinum rims and trims, and was distinct in decals and other minor details from the standard Ronin variant seen on the streets. Regardless however, Tomo sighed as they approached the parked car:

“Why can’t we go on the Kaneda?”

“Sorry squirt” Shogo ruffled Tomo’s hair, “Too dangerous.”

“Aw come on, you don’t care about that kinda stuff!”

“But your mom does, and I would rather not have her going full mama bear on me. At least not now.”

“Awwww, but riding your bike is so much fun!”

“I know, I know. I promise you’ll get to ride it again another time, but for right now, we use the car, alright?”  
  
“Alright.”

And so the two were off - Shogo driving while Tomo was in the passenger seat. Shogo made sure both of them were buckled up, or that at least Tomo was, before driving off. As he was already running late, he was driving a little fast. Kiyumi would have complained on him for it, but luckily for them she wasn’t out of the building herself yet as they sped off. Also luckily for Shogo, the police practically ignored him as he passed by not only numerous cars of typical pedestrians but also even their squad cruiser cars.

“Hahaha, they’re all way too slow!” Tomo laughed as he watched everyone Shogo was passing up. If he wasn’t running late Shogo would typically get in front of them just to be a jerk and start driving slowly, before speeding up if they tried to pass him. However, he had to get to the Ultor building as fast as possible.

“They sure are, squirt~” Shogo said with a smirk before he got a devious idea, “Wanna see something else your Uncle can do?”

“Yeah!”

“Heheh” and with that little snicker Shogo went onto the oncoming lane side of the highway once he reached the bridge headed straight for the districts controlled more by Ultor than anyone else, the Ultor Phillips Building in view without all those downtown buildings in the way of the sky. He purposely did this just to have fun most of the time, driving on the wrong lane and causing people on the road to freak out over him. Though now he also did it just to hear Tomo’s amazement over his skill at dodging now incoming cars:

“Woah! You’re good at dodging them!”

“Experience~”

“Ha! They look so mad!”

“And scared too, as they should be~”

“Heheh, woah, Uncle Shogo, look out!”

“Huh-OH SHIT!” suddenly the fact that this was a bad idea came towards Shogo in the form of a large semi-truck just as they were about to leave the bridge. Shogo’s brain kicked into preservation mode and he quickly did a hard, sharp and fast turn back onto the lane he was supposed to be driving on before the truck collided with his small car. He almost dropped his sunglasses and it was as a whole a miracle that he didn’t hit the truck, the El Train that he also narrowly dodged, or any cars on the lane he was rejoining.

After such a rush of excitement, both Tomoyuki and Shogo were panting and breathing heavily, Shogo adjusting his hair and sunglasses after having made sure Tomo was still breathing.

“Uncle Shogo….”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“That….was…..awesome! Can we do it again?!”  
  
“Heheh, we’ll see” Shogo replied, “But yeah, let’s get to the Ultor building now.”

“Okay!”

And so finally Shogo decided to focus on heading to the tallest building in the city and headquarters of the Ultor mega-corporation, parking his car in the appropriate place and escorting Tomo into the lobby - staying by him at all times.

“Sup?” he said to the young receptionist lady, “I’m Shogo Akuji, here to see Dane Vogel. And don’t mind this little guy, he’s just my nephew.” Tomoyuki did a polite bow at that moment, being so nice, polite and innocent it was hard to not find him adorable.

“Aw” she briefly cooed, before looking at her computer, “Shogo….Shogo…Shogo…ah yes, I see your meeting was scheduled about, a few hours ago.”

“I know, I’m sure Dane will understand when I explain why I’m late. Is he still open?”

“Just a moment please.” she then picked up a phone, and after a few seconds spoke into it, “Jamie, tell Mr. Vogel that Shogo Akuji is here to speak with him…………alright” she then turned back to Shogo, “Yes, Mr. Vogel is open to speak with you.”

“Alright!” Shogo smirked and headed into the elevator, with Tomo right behind him. He let Tomo get in with him but shut the door before anyone else could enter. Within moments the two were headed for the top floor. Along the way of course, Tomo started some conversation with his male role model in life:

“Uncle Shogo, is this where they make the Solar games?”

“Heh, it sure is, kid~”

“Does that mean you can take me to see them being made in person?!”

“I’ll talk to Dane about it, promise!”

“Yay!” and then he hugged Shogo, “You’re the best, Uncle Shogo!”

“I know, kid” Shogo patted Tomo’s little head,  which only went up to his hips, “I know.”

It took a few more minutes but eventually they did reach the top floor, where Dane’s office was. Shogo gestured for Tomo to sit on a chair in Jamie’s office - the room right before Vogel’s - as he himself walked into the doors and into the large and luxurious office of the CEO himself.

Dane Vogel, in his Ultor business suit, classy hair, charming exec-in-his-prime face and natural good looks looked to Shogo with a bit of a sarcastic smirk on his face. It foreshadowed the things he said the moment Shogo walked into the room and approached the man’s desk.

“Well Shogo, I gotta say, your timing is impeccable. I’m truly impressed with how late you are today.”

“C’mon, it can’t be that bad, D.”

“I dunno” Vogel snarked, “It was scheduled for 1:30, and now we’re….” Dane checked his wristwatch, “Looking at 4:25.”

“It’s not my fault, okay? I was really tired and slept in, alright?”

“That’s not really a strong excuse.”

“Look, I swear it won’t happen again, alright?”

“Very well, for your sake I hope that’s true. Anyway, about the business we need to discuss….”  
  
“Yeah?”

“Apparently, there’s been concern over your behavior lately on the online game.”

“What are you talking about?”  
  
“We’ve been receiving a lot of complaints about you threatening other players.”

“The Saints, huh? They already buried me alive, I promise you they’re just making shit up to get me kicked off for good!”

“Oh no, actually, a lot of these reports are from before your ‘untimely demise’.”

“What proof do they have?”  
4  
“Well, some of them did take pictures….I’ll read them to you right now.” and Dane pulled up on his own laptop the offending images as he proceeded to read them aloud for Shogo to hear, “‘Listen you fucking cunt, if you don’t fucking stop this bullshit right now I will find out where you live and you will regret the day you ever knew the name Shogo motherfucking Akuji.’”

“I don’t remember-”

“Oh here’s another one, ‘I promise you bitch that I will start chopping some heads off for real if you don’t admit defeat already you don’t know who you’re fucking with.’”

“Um…..”

“Aaaaand, ‘Alright listen bitch, I will find out where you fucking live and kill you if you don’t stop this shit. I will kill you so hard that your parents will die just from how painful your experience was. Then I will destroy everything you know and love, I will leave you with nothing. You will have absolutely nobody and nothing left in the world that loves you after I’m done with you.’”

“What’s so wrong about that stuff?”  
  
“Did you not read the Terms of Service? Or do I need to read that aloud to you too?”

“Dane, is this about my father cancelling our partnership? You know it was only in the game, right? He doesn’t know about the real life deals…..yet.”

“No, because unlike you I actually mean it when I say ‘What Happens in the Row, Stays in the Row’, so to speak. Now listen, Ultor knows that when dealing with the Ronin in real life, there’s going to be incidents similar to this, but there’s a lot more messages that you made that I haven’t read yet and I want you to put a stop to this behavior. It’s going to either come to a point where I’ll have to terminate your account for Saints Row OR I start losing paying players because all of them are terrified of you and your threats. And I think you know which one I’m more inclined to select if the need arises.”

“Watch Yourself, Vogel!”

“Keep in mind Shogo, that if anyone else made these threats, they would be terminated immediately and reported to the police. Especially for some of your more, shall I say, graphic ones.”

“Like what kind of graphic?”

“I don’t know, something to do with selling someone into sexual slavery, making snuff films out of their rape and murder, stuff like that. Unless you want me to read it…”  
  
“No…no, I don’t need it read to me.”

“Would you like me to schedule you some anger management classes?”

“Excuse me?!”

“These messages concern me, as does some of your behavior in the flesh too to be honest. Now, I will give you that your anger is not nearly as bad as Maero’s…..who didn’t use his anger in the chat messages so much as made appearances in reality so to speak, nor are you as terrifying, but it still concerns me enough to offer you some classes to take to work on your temper.”

“I don’t have a temper problem!” Shogo snapped, before realizing he did so and trying to calm himself, “I mean, I don’t need anger management classes, Dane…….but um, thanks for the offer.”

“Well, you’re very welcome, Shogo.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I was going to discuss to you your role as Solar the Hedgehog.”

“What about it?”

“Well, because of how late you were today you practically missed your recording sessions for Solar and Ultor All-Stars Racing Transformed, so we had to just use archived sound clips in place of some of your scheduled lines.”

“….woops…look, I’m here now, I can do it now…right?”  
  
“I suppose…..but you’re not getting as much pay.”

“Fine……” and then Shogo remembered, “Oh! D! One more thing!”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“I have to watch my little nephew Tomoyuki today, and-”

“Shogo….”

“No no no, I brought him here with me, and he asked me on the elevator if I could take him to see a Solar game being worked on up-close, can I?”

“As long as you don’t let him mess with the process, sure.”

“Don’t worry, he’s pretty much the nicest little kid ever, pretty shy around other kids too. He won’t be trouble at all.”

“I hope so. Anyway, you should be off now, unless you are actually in a competition for running late for things.”

“On it!” and Shogo clicked his fingers with his smirk ever present on his face as he walked out of the room and back into Jamie’s office. Immediately did Tomo look up to Shogo as he walked out with a hopeful face, walking over to his uncle practically bouncing with anticipation:

“Well? What did he say?”  
  
“He said yes~”

“Yay!” and Tomo once again gave Shogo a hug, Shogo smiled warmly and patted him on the head again before saying:  
  
“Now c’mon, let’s get to it~”

“Yeah!”

With those words having been said, Shogo and Tomo were off to the game studio - which was in the Phillips Building only a different part of it. It was where all of the video game (and console) development, publishing and licensing went down for the corporation. Tomo was amazed and in awe at the sight of all of it. Shogo kept him close by before having to let him run off by himself so that he could finally do his recording session. Luckily for Shogo, his bilingual abilities meant he did both the English and the Japanese voices of his character in all the ‘Solar’ games he worked on. In addition, as he was only working on a racing game he didn’t really have to say anything major or long. That said though, whenever he did mess up or have to do a retake, his anger issues did flare up a little bit. That, and he was very demanding to the staff.

“Where’s my damn latte?!”

“Bitch I’m fucking hungry, get me some ramen right now!”

“Don’t look at me like that!”

“I’m the voice of this company’s god damn mascot since I was 16 years old, I’ll tell you who the fuck I am! Shogo fucking Akuji! You don’t tell me what to fucking do! I didn’t fuck up the line!”

“YOU FORGOT THE DRINK?! What do you think I am? A Hobo?!”

All of those things were said by Shogo at various intervals of his job, usually in between line readings. When he did read a line, usually he had to basically slip into the persona of a cocky but kind hearted, kid friendly, snarky douchebag with a heart of gold  character, as Kiyumi put it a ‘Toned down Shogo’. However, to say the Ultor staff viewed Shogo as a prototypical ‘diva’ to serve would be an understatement, but he was their star voice actor when he wasn’t a model or ‘gang leader’.

Tomo, on the other hand, was far different to everyone. He was sweet and polite to everyone, always referring to the staff as ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir’, though he was a little shy and didn’t stray too far away from where his uncle was. For the most part he looked around and gazed at things going on around the studio, occasionally being distracted by the gameplay testing. At one point, he actually was seen and - being who his uncle was - was actually asked:

“Hey, kid….you wanna help test things for me?”

“You…..you would let me?”  
  
“Sure.”

“C-cool!”

It was like a dream come true, practically. Being allowed to play a game that was still in it’s early phases, as if he was part of the testing crew. Really his kindness and adorable shyness made everyone dealing with Shogo grow at least a bit more hope in humanity. After a few hours - roughly by the time it was 8:03 pm  and the sun was well on it’s way down - the two were off, heading out of the office and driving back on the road again. Since it was now night time, Shogo was actually more responsible with his driving since Tomo was in the car with him and it would be harder to see where other vehicles were on the road than it was during the day hours.

“What are we doing now, Uncle Shogo?” Tomo asked, “It’s almost my bedtime.”

“Bedtime? For serious? She gives you a bedtime?”

“Yes…..9.”

“Screw that, you’re with me. I think we can have a little more fun before we head back, what you think?”  
  
“Thank you, Uncle Shogo.”

“Any time, kiddo~”

With that, the two were off. Despite Kiyumi’s fears, Shogo was actually very responsible with Tomo. He knew not to take him to any ‘not safe for work’ places lest he end up castrated or worse as punishment, so he settled for simple places such as the toy store in downtown - which when he was younger he absolutely went crazy over. Nowadays Tomo is not as whimsical over it but he still likes to buy some Solar related merchandise. Shogo of course, always tries to use his ‘voice actor’ status to get discounts on everything.

After buying some video games as well for both himself and Shogo, the two headed to get a snack. Shogo was not the type to settle for just ‘Freckle Bitch’s’ - that and Tomo wasn’t even allowed by his mother to repeat the name - he took his nephew to a much more ‘high class’ eating establishment. Following their meal, Shogo took Tomo to the karate dojo so the two of them could practice together - Tomo wasn’t nearly as good at it as Shogo was quite yet, as it was clear his mother didn’t give him much a chance to learn. Tomo’s relative inability to defend himself even considering his age concerned his uncle. Afterwards, Shogo and Tomo headed out to the rec center where they spent the rest of their fun playing late night basketball and tennis matches together. Shogo never ‘let’ Tomo win, but never got angry when he did.

By the time all that had been finished, it was 11:40 pm as they were walking out of the rec center towards Shogo’s car.

“This was such a fun night, Uncle Shogo!”

“It sure was kid.”

“I still think it’s a little unfair you against me on b-ball.”  
  
“Whaaat? You just getting jelly? Being a sore loser?”  
  
“Noooo, but you’re so much taller than me.”  
  
“That’s no excuse, little Tomo~”

“Hahaha”

“C’mon, I think now’s a good time to start heading home. It’s almost Midnight.”

“Awwwwwwww!”  
  
“C’mon, we’ve done everything that won’t get me killed for bringing you along with me.”

“Alright, but I don’t wanna!”

“I know, I know. But we have to go back some….time…” the reason for his sudden pause in the middle of speech was simple - he saw a certain individual driving slowly on the rode across from the rec center. He recognized that person anywhere. “Actually, I think we can stay up for a few more minutes.”

“Yay!”

He brought Shogo back into the car with him, only he wasn’t heading to a certain place. Rather, he was following the car of the person he had just spotted. The car, of Johnny Gat. The user on Saints Row who had done the deed of burying him alive.

Gat in real life looked actually very similar to his in-game avatar, much like Shogo himself did actually. He had that black with white-on-top cut, those glasses, the muscular and intimidating body yet definitely hunky, and even wore the same purple ‘flags’. Shogo would be no match for him in either life or the game, and Tomo even less so.  Amazingly, he didn’t seem to notice the car casually following him, or he figured he could take on the person driving it and chose to act like he was not noticing it.

“Uncle Shogo, where are we going?”

“Ssh, Tomo.”

Shogo stopped at a distance and pretended like he was obeying a stop sign as he saw Gat park his car in the driveway of a house. The house he shared with Aisha, who was not actually deceased but was indeed a semi-retired R&B singer living a simple life in the suburbs. After making sure nobody was watching from the windows, Shogo drove slowly up to the house and took note of the home’s address, actually taking out a small notepad and writing it down on a blank sheet of paper.

“Uncle Shogo, what are you doing?”

“Ssh!”

“Is it something bad?”  
  
“Tomo, let me handle it, okay?”

“Okay.”  
  
“Good boy.”

After making sure he had the address down correctly, Shogo finally took Tomo and the car back home to Tohoku Towers. Once he got there, he saw that his parents had already left back to Japan in the time he and his nephew had been gone - Kazuo leaving the box containing Shogo’s new computer  on a table. Jyunichi - the tallest, bald and most muscular of the Ronin who wore a largely black,sleeveless outfit and knew well how to use two katanas at once - was also home. Kameko, Kiyumi’s closest friend and a skilled spy/assassin who sported long black hair of her own and mostly wore tight black/golden leather suits when not in disguise was also present - in fact the two women were watching movies on the television when Shogo and Tomo entered the home.

“It’s about time you two returned home” Jyunichi was the first to address them.

“Ssh!” Shogo tried to make Jyunichi talk more quietly, “Don’t. Alert. Her!”

“Why not? She already knows you haven’t been home yet.”

“Exactly, Shogo.” Kiyumi walked up to him while saying, before turning to Tomo, “Tomo, you should go right to bed now. It’s way past your bedtime.”  
  
“But moooooooooom!”

“Bed! Now!”

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww!” though he whined, Tomo still obeyed his mother. Shogo, however:

“Kiyumi, for real? A bedtime? You don’t let the kid learn to defend himself AND you give him a bedtime? Are you trying to turn my nephew into a wimp?”

“You took him to the karate dojo?!”

“For a little bit, yes!”

“Oh my god!”

“Kiyumi, he needs to learn how to defend himself! It’s ridiculous how much you baby him!”

“You know he kinda has a point for once” Kameko said from the chair she was sitting on, “You really should cut your apron strings a bit. You’re not gonna be around to defend Tomoyuki forever.”

“Exactly!” Shogo responded, “Thank you, Kameko!”

“I wasn’t saying it for you, I was just stating fact.”

“Hmph.”

Kiyumi sighed at that point. In truth, she knew that what they were saying was true, Shogo may be seen as wrong on most subjects when the two siblings argue, but he’s right about one thing - the ‘babying’ that Kiyumi gives to her son. Not even Tomo likes it much anymore. After she sighed, she said:

“Okay, I’ll let you take him for karate lessons and maybe teach him how to use weapons….but only if Jyunichi is there with you two.”

“Of course, Kiyumi” Jyunichi gave her a respectful bow. Shogo rolled his eyes that she didn’t trust him alone with Tomo for that, but then again Jyunichi was more skilled with swords than Shogo could hope to be, so perhaps that was his sister’s reasoning.

“Oh” Kiyumi spoke up, “And take him when it’s not so dark out. I’m surprised that place is even open at this time.”

“Got it……so does this mean-”

“He still has a bedtime.”

“Baby steps, huh sis?”  
  
“Oh just shut up and go hook up your new computer already. Me and Kameko are just watching some late night movies.”

“Alright, alright” and then Shogo turned to Jyunichi, “Jyunichi, come hook up the computer for me.”

“…………”

“What?”  
  
“She said for you to do it.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said for you to do it yourself…with all due respect.”

“Wow, so, I didn’t expect so much attitude from you at this hour. I said for you to come hook it up for me!”

“I just want to remind you that I know very well about the ‘anonymous’ call you made to the leader of the Saints during the game” Jyunichi responded with a combination of both sarcastic snark and bitter coldness, “I believe you know the one, that I was in Kanto?”

“I….um…..I’ll hook it up myself then….sorry….to bother you about it.”  
  
“A very good answer.”

Clearly, Jyunichi was not happy with paying $30 a month to repeat his real life job in a virtual world only for all of it to come to an end thanks to his own ‘boss’ betraying him - and made Shogo know very well to not overstep his bounds in the real world. As such, he had to go through the trouble of hooking all the wires, the tower, the monitor, the keyboard & mouse - everything - up himself. It was surprisingly easy all things considered, though he did ask repeatedly for help from fellow ‘SR’ player Matt Miller over the phone. Luckily for Shogo, Matt was from Britain and thus it wasn’t the middle of the night for him.

He didn’t have time to use his fancy new ‘Gaming’ PC though. Instead, he was so tired by the time all of it was done that after he confirmed he could use the internet and put in his expansion drive - where all his most personal files were kept, he just turned it off and went to sleep so that he wouldn’t be up so late in the next morning.

Besides, he had plans for that day anyway.

The aftermath of Shogo’s plans were discussed roughly two days later, in the online chat feature of the Saints Row ™ game. Saints Row itself was something of an interesting game; a sandbox, life simulator and virtual reality type of game that featured a virtual version of the city that Ultor itself was based in as well as other virtual worlds for players to run around in. Most people used it for it’s intended marketing purpose - crime and organized gang simulation. Others used it just to live a world where they could live the life of their dreams - if they didn’t get ‘killed’ in the process. Most of the players agreed, the monthly fees were quite ridiculous, and only a full on partnership, connection or employment with Ultor in real life could get you a discount. Ultor defended it’s blunt greed by pointing out how advanced the game was.

Also, Ultor’s mascot Solar the Hedgehog was typically kept out of the game, largely due to Solar being a ‘family friendly’ character and the many things that players can do in Saints Row not being compatible with Solar. After all, the age restriction for Saints Row was 16+, and even then 16 year olds only had limited access to the game’s features until they were 18.

Most of Saints Row’s virtual history was largely dominated by the Third Street Saints, which funny enough were not actually planted by Ultor despite what everyone thought. They were actually created by ‘retired’ player Julius Little and believed to have been named that way because he believed he would get better luck out of it. Perhaps he was right. Julius was, however, incredibly addicted to the game to a point he went on a crusade-like war against all of the other gangs in the Stilwater world - the main and original world of the game. He even took down his own homie, Benjamin King - who was indeed the head of King Records in real life. Albeit, King was the only enemy he spared. Most of the players he vanquished either moved on with their lives or set up as new characters in a different world. Eventually, he became so addicted to it that he betrayed his own gang.His character was put to an end by his own protege, and nobody has heard from him since - though King has told the Saints in the chat that he’s been ‘seeing a shrink’ for his addiction. However, Julius did set the precedent for the Saints’ modus operandi of taking down every other gang in the virtual version of Stilwater. Hence why after Julius’ protege came back and the gang started up again, Shogo and his virtual version of the Ronin were eventually taken down.

Speaking of which, we cut to the very topic that the members of the Saints were chatting about not in the actual simulation world but in the sidebar chat room they had where even ‘deceased’ members could chat with their ‘surviving’ friends.

> _DaBoss - “So how’s everybody holding up?”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “Pretty good if I don’t say so myself.”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “I’m pretty ace right now. Still a little high, but all around doin’ good.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Ha”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Hey, where’s Gat at? Usually he’s on by now.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Aisha might me making him do some work around the house. He did mention she’s been pressuring him to get a job.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “Can’t say I blame her. 60 a month is fuckin’ brutal.”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Ugh I know. Thank god I only have to pay for myself.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “True that.”_
> 
> _(UpandMurderin logs on)_
> 
> _DaBoss - “There you are! What happened?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “I’m about to bury that Akuji bitch alive for real right now and I ain’t jokin.”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Woah. What happened?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “That fucker and his little punk ass Ronin bitches came to the house while me and Eesh weren’t home and just trashed the fuck out of everything!”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “What did they do?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “Oh I mean everything. Slashed the tires on Eesh’s car, beat the damn thing all over with I don’t know what fucking what, smashed the windows, cut open the gas tank, sprayed all sorts of shit all over the fuckin’ house, threw eggs at and IN to the fuckin’ house, threw rocks and broke all sorts of shit, I think one of them was trying to set it on fire when I pulled up and was about to bust their asses wide open!”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Holy fuck.”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “I mean it. I wanna bury that little fucker alive in real life right now.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “Man, Shogo always was a fuckin’ bitch sore loser. Just like Maero, cept Shogo’s always a straight up pussy!”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “No fuckin’ shit. Bitch ass ran the moment he saw me and Eesh pullin’ up to the house. Fled on that fuckin’ bike.”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Remember those messages he was sending us?”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Don’t remind me. Not a single one of them got me to not want to kick his fucking virtual ass.”_
> 
> _(AmigoMendoza logs on)_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Um, Hola? This a bad time?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “You better hide that little bitch of yours before I fuckin’ find him.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Oh boy….”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Sup Carlos. Don’t worry, it’s not a bad time….kinda. It kinda is, but like, yeah.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “I see….well, how’s the gang war been goin’ since I got smoked?”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Pretty good. Me and the Boss took out the Samedi.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Nice.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “And I’m pretty sure you heard about how bad the Ronin got fucked up.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Oh yeah.”_
> 
> _(UndercoverSaint logs on)_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “Shogo is the most annoying punk I’ve ever heard of in my life.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Lin! It’s been ages since you’ve been online.”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “Yeah, sorry about that. Still dealing with life and all that. It’s not like I can rejoin you guys in Stilwater anytime soon.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Could always make a new character.”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “Eh, I don’t really feel like it. Not right now, anyway.”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “Can we get back on topic for a second here? I’m gonna murder that little fuckin’ bastard.”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “You’re not the only one, Johnny. That little bastard pretty much pisses everyone off. You have no idea how disgusted I am when he gives me that fucking ‘call me’ sign in the fucking bank.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “………”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “Sorry.”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Christ. He’s not really good at making us regret killing him, is he?”_  
>   
>  UpandMurderin - “Nope.”
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Yeah, not really. Especially after that message he sent me.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “That boy needs anger management classes like fuckin yesterday.”_  
>   
>  UpandMurderin - “Nah, what he needs is a fuckin beatin.”
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Guys, I don’t mean to be like, against the team or anything, but isn’t it against ToS to talk about actually killing people in real life?”_
> 
> _LiveALetLive - “Only if it gets reported, right?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “Exactly, and that’s fuckin’ bullshit. He has threatened to do even worse shit than just kill people and I didn’t see his ass have his account terminated or get arrested! Which I would’ve loved to fuckin see cuz there is no way that boy would survive a second in jail.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “Ain’t that the truth. That soap would be dropped so fast it’d be a world record.”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “lmao”_
> 
> _DaBoss - “Hey guys, hold up….I just got an email from some ‘RoninQueen’ person or whatever.”_
> 
> _YaBoiPierce - “I got one too from the same address.”  
>   
>  LiveALetLive - “Ditto.”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “Yup.”_
> 
> _UndercoverSaint - “Small world, me too.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “I didn’t…..oh boy.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Hey, guys? It’s um….been 10 minutes. You on?”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “Hola?”_
> 
> _UpandMurderin - “Sorry Carlos. Let’s just say you might wanna say some final goodbyes to your favourite customer.”_
> 
> _AmigoMendoza - “………….”_

All the while this was happening online, Shogo himself was offline and in fact, taking a shower to himself. Whistling the tune of his favourite song - Cozmo-Naughty - to himself as he stood there fully naked and bathing himself under the warm waters of the shower. It was a very relaxing experience. Once he stepped out after about half an hour he put a white towel around his waist and spent time admiring and grooming his fine and skinny yet sculpted body and face in the mirror before heading out into his bedroom to get himself dressed.

However, he didn’t get very far before he was tackled to the ground from behind by Kameko - who had been hiding silently on the ceiling.

“AH!” Shogo screamed as Kameko had him restrained, “WATCH THE HAIR!”

“Silence!”

“Kameko, if you wanted time in the shower with me….kinda late.”  
  
“I said silence!” she exclaimed as she forced Shogo to stand up and dragged him - trying to keep his towel up - to a Kiyumi who was standing angrily in the living room. The very first thing she did was actually knee her brother right in the abs, before slapping him right in the face.

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”

“OWWWWWW! Let me get dressed first!”

He got slapped a second time by his sister.

“SHUT UP!”

“What the fuck did I fuckin’ do to piss you off now?!”

“I don’t know, baby brother” Kiyumi replied, “How about used MY email to send DEATH THREATS to people?!”

“Wha-what? How did you find out?!”

“You want to know who was just here? THE POLICE. Talking to ME. If you weren’t so in with Ultor or part of a Yakuza branch, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED!”

“Like you couldn’t defend yourself in jail!”

That earned him a third slap in the face.

“I might be able to defend myself but trust me, you would NOT want to be the reason I was sent to jail because I fucking promise you that I would be giving you a lot worse than just slapping you right now.”

“JYUNICHI! HELP ME!”

Jyunichi was in the room as well, but he just remained silent and let the two women do what they were going to do. It didn’t take long for Shogo to realize he wasn’t getting any help, and without his phone on him couldn’t call his mother. Not that she would make it in time anyway.

“Please…d-d-don’t kill me.”

“We’re not going to kill you, baby brother.”

“Awwwwww” Kameko remarked, making Shogo actually look at her with a fair bit of fear in his eyes.

“But I know something that you ARE going to be doing!”

“What?” Shogo replied, “Are you going to make me go to their houses and apologize to them or some shit?”

Not very long after he said that was he fully dressed, in his sister’s own car, sitting in the passenger seat as she drove with Jyunichi sitting in the back - Kameko being left in charge of Tomo. Shogo had about the angriest and most childish pout on his face imagineable as he folded his arms and said only:

“Me and my big fucking mouth.”

“Indeed, baby brother. Indeed.”

“Kiyumi, please don’t make me do this….”

“Shogo, I don’t want to hear it. I agree to pay for your fucking game subscription and THIS is what you to do me just a few DAYS after I do it. No. If you want me to keep on, you’re either going to apologize for your actions, I cut you off, or I spank you in public for all to see.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Kiyumi then stopped the car and glared right into her brother’s eyes.

“Try. Me.”

“You wouldn’t spank Tomo!”

“When he does something really wrong, I do. Because I actually discipline my children, unlike how mother is with you!”

“You’re not father, Kiyumi!”

“I’m still your older sister and thus have authority over you. And I am using that authority right now to give you a choice. Cutting you off, apologizing, or me grabbing you, putting you over my knee, opening the door and spanking you out where anyone can drive or walk by and see you.”

“Hmph!”  
  
“Give me an answer Shogo. Or do you want me to choose for you? Because believe me, if I have to choose not only will you be cut off, but you would be getting spanked too.”

“If I were you Shogo” Jyunichi spoke, “I’d make a decision.”

“Why are you helping her?! Traitor!”

“Because you really do need to learn some manners” Jyunichi stated, “And, to stop using my inventory without my permission.”  
  
“Hmph!”  
  
“Shogo, you have three seconds to choose before I choose for you.”

“Okay! Okay! I’ll fucking apologize! Jeez!”

“Good choice, baby brother.”

“Whatever. Just get this over with.”

“Who were the people you threatened?”

“The Saints. The people who buried me alive.”

“Of course” Kiyumi shook her head as she started driving again, “You know where they live?”  
  
“Around here. All of them were locals, like the Brotherhood. Most of them live in the suburbs but I only know the address of two of them.”

“Ugh.”

“They deserve it, sis!”

“Shogo, I would say that if they actually buried you alive in real life. Believe me, I would be beyond mournful at what they did to you and what they might do to Tomo, but these are innocent people who were just playing a fucking computer game. They didn’t actually cause any physical harm to you at all. Plus, one that I’M paying money for you to keep playing!”

“Hmph.”  
  
“Shut up. This is for your own good.”

“In your mind it is!”

“Look, just tell me what address you know so this will be over with as fast as possible.”

With a sigh, Shogo reached into his pocket and handed his sister the notebook. Since she was driving, she gestured for Jyunichi to take the notebook and read it on her behalf - which he gladly did. Shogo just folded his arms and had a look reminiscent of his father as he looked out the wonder and could do nothing but accept his fate.

“Take a right” Jyunichi commented, and Shogo slumped into his seat. Kiyumi and Jyunichi both ignored him however. Before long they were parked in front of Johnny Gat and Aisha’s house. Kiyumi and Jyunichi both looked at the damage caused to it over the past night or so. As Gat described to his friends:

Aisha’s personal vehicle had been thoroughly smashed and broken in the most brutal of fashions, the suburban mechanics shop being too busy to tow it for repairs at the moments despite Carlos working there.  As for the house, most of the  windows were smashed, and the residue of eggs could be seen on both the roof and the walls. Japanese graffiti could be seen spray painted onto the home as well - and judging by the look on Kiyumi’s face they weren’t anything pleasant.

“Wow, baby brother. Just, really. Wow.”

“Shut up, Kiyumi.”

“No, you shut up” she said as she got out of the car, walked to the other end, opened that door and pointed to the front door of the home, “Go.”

“Nnnnngh!” Shogo whined.

“I’m not playing with you, Shogo!”

“Hmph!”

“You really are like a full grown child, you know that?”

“Fuck you!”

“Get the fuck out the damn car.” with that having been said, Kiyumi had enough of his nonsense and just grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the car. He almost fell to the sidewalk, but caught himself and stood himself up with a pout still on his face. His sister now was practically forcing him to walk with her to the front door.

Jyunichi the entire while just stood by the car on standby if Shogo tried to run or if he was needed for any other reason. He remained silent and let Kiyumi handle everything - much to Shogo’s further frustration and distaste.

Eventually the Akuji siblings reached the front door, and Kiyumi glared at her brother until he finally rang the doorbell. However, it was quickly found out that the doorbell had been busted thanks to the Akuji boy. Kiyumi facepalmed and shook her head as her brother, grumbling, knocked on the door.

After some moments, the unhappy face of Aisha, sporting her pixie cut and all just like her previous game avatar self, though she was wearing different clothing, answered the door. The first thing she said was:  
  
“JOHNNY, THE AKUJI BOY’S HERE!”

Shogo actually started trembling in fear before Johnny actually got to the front door, and felt like he was about to wet himself when he actually did. Just like in the game, it really was easier to make moves against him indirectly rather than face-to-face.

“Must be my lucky fucking day” Gat commented, a face that clearly wanted to destroy Shogo. Shogo had no other defense than hiding behind his sister’s arm. Granted she would’ve put up more a fight, but it’s doubtful even she could hold off Johnny from her brother forever.

“Pleasedon’tlethimkillme!” Shogo pleaded to Kiyumi, who just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Just tell them why you’re here, Shogo.”

“Pleeeeaaaaaaase!”

“Baby brother…..now.”

Shogo tried to suck up his fear and spoke to the two in an obviously frightened voice:

“I….I’m here, to apolgize for what I did to you.”  
  
“Which is?” Kiyumi asked, making Shogo glare at her.

“Vandalizing your house and property.”

“Not so tough now, are you, little Shit-go?” Aisha mocked, a remark that he never got before but instantly hated. Gat actually smirked at it himself before turning to Shogo with nothing but anger on his face:

“I think what you fuckin’ did around here’s gonna take more than just one fuckin’ ‘I’m sorry’.”

“Well don’t worry” Kiyumi assured them, “The coverage for everything is coming out of his wallet.”  
  
“WHAT?!”  
  
“Shogo…” Kiyumi glared at him, getting him to shut up rather quickly, and she turned back to Gat and Aisha, “And he’ll be more than willing to do anything for you two to make it up to you, even clean all that be cleaned from your home.”

“Well….” Johnny started, but then Aisha looked at him and said:

“You can’t actually make him bury himself alive, Johnny.”

“Awww, c’mon Eesh!”

“Johnny.”

“Alright fine, cleanin’ the place is enough” but then he turned to Shogo, “But you better make it spotless. And believe me, I mean fuckin’ spotless. I don’t wanna see no dust, no dirt, no nothin’. I better be able to taste that fuckin’ floor.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes…..Mr. Gat?”

“I’ll take it.”

“Well, Shogo, get to cleaning.” Kiyumi spoke sternly.  
  
“But I don’t have anything to clean with!”

He quickly learned to keep his mouth shut more when Gat showed up with buckets of water and Aisha with mops in her hands, as well as various other cleaning supplies. Within a matter of moments he had his jacket off - being held by Jyunichi - and was being assisted only by a ladder as he had to clean his own mess off of Gat & Aisha’s house. He clearly hated the entire experience. Jyunichi and Gat both kept their eyes on his progress.

Meanwhile, Kiyumi and Aisha were actually chatting with each other in the living room while waiting for the work to be finished.

“Again I really am sorry my brother used my email to send you and your friends such threatening emails.”

“It’s alright” Aisha responded, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I know…..I want to ring his neck…many…times too. But for me, well, he’s my little brother.”

“I know, I’m a sister myself girl. I know how it is. Though my siblings aren’t nearly as, well, let’s just say there’s a lot of choice words I’d like to say about your brother right now that I probably shouldn’t in the presence of other people.”

“I know, I feel like I’ve probably said a few of those words myself.”

“Ha!”

“And thanks for giving me the addresses of the other people he threatened and harassed.”

“Oh it’s no problem. It’s honestly about time someone taught him some discipline. Your mother really ignores everything he does?”

“Pretty much. One time he trashed her and father’s bedroom, but he pinned it on me. Because he told her first, she believed him.”

“Wow.”

“But I got him back, me and my best friend locked him in his own closet for about an hour or so. Fun fact is that he actually is claustrophobic, so his freak out was priceless.”

“Hahaha! I bet it was! Then I imagine he really wouldn’t like being buried alive then.”

“No, not at all. That said, if it really did happen of course my attitude about this would be different, but I would still acknowledge he did crash your funeral…even if it was just a virtual one.”

“Actually, to tell the truth, I kind of let Jyunichi kill me.”

“Oh really?”

“Hell yeah, I’m still tryin’ to get Johnny to get a stable job ‘round here and I sure as hell am not gonna be payin’ no 60 a month for both of us to be playing that damn game! All my friends live around here anyway, if they wanna chat they can just come over and do it in person!”

“Yes, exactly. Shogo actually tried to get me into the game before he pressured father into it. I told him basically the same thing, that the price was ridiculous.”  
  
“Thank you! I don’t know how or why so many people are willing to pay so much a month for that! Like I get it’s a very advanced game but like, so many other of those RPG things are around and cost like so much less!”

“Precisely! I told Shogo the same thing, but he was dead set on this game. Then again he really is into life simulation games.”

“He is?”  
  
“Yeah. I’m not sure why. I was never into video games though to be honest, I rather books and movies. But sometimes I play with Tomoyuki.”

“Tomoyuki?”

“Oh, my son, sometimes we call him Tomo for short.”  
  
“Oh, you have a son?”

“Yes” and then Kiyumi pulled out from her purse a small picture album to show Aisha pictures of Tomo at various ages. Aisha herself couldn’t help but find the boy absolutely precious.

“Awwwww, he’s adorable!”

“I know, and trust me, he’s very sweet too. Some people tell me he’s the sweetest little boy they’ve ever met, even. It’s so tempting to just spoil him, but I’ve learned from my mother why that’s a bad idea.”

“Awww! You know, I’ve actually thought about having kids with Johnny one day in the future.”

“Oh really?”  
  
“Yeah, not anytime soon though. Only when he gets a job o’course.”

“Well I’m sure you too will have an adorable baby!”

“Oh thank you so much!”

“Of course.”

The two women kept up the friendly chatter to each other while Shogo was cleaning the house’s exterior, a ‘I hate everything in the world right now’ look on his face while he did so. Gat of course, enjoyed every single moment of Shogo’s ‘punishment’ and made sure to mess with him while he did it:

“Hey! You better work those muscles, little boy!” he exclaimed, “That shit you drew ain’t gonna wipe itself off!”

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” Shogo called back, Gat only laughing at the boy’s whining. It was obvious Shogo was saying nothing but whines and complaints the entire time. He also almost slipped off the roof and the ladder numerous times, prompting Gat to crack some jokes.

“Don’t worry, if you fall I’ll catch you! Might be with my fist, but I’ll catch you. That or I’ll go run n’ buy you a coffin real quick. Save your family the trouble!”

Shogo could only growl at jokes like that, since he’d only get in more trouble if he insulted the man or Aisha. It took him several hours to clean the exterior, and after that Aisha and Johnny made sure to put him to work on the interior. Aisha herself made sure he made everything clean to the most pristine degree - another process that took hours.

Also, only Kiyumi and Jyunichi were offered lemonade drinks by Aisha. Shogo didn’t get anything.

After cleaning the house he messed up - and promising to cover the broken windows and car - Kiyumi, Jyunichi and Shogo moved on to the next house that was now on Kiyumi’s list. Shogo was still royally irritated the entire way there, of course. The first words out of his mouth were:

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”  
  
“Shogo, you brought this on yourself.” Kiyumi stated, “Don’t be whining and claiming I hate you just because I decide to teach you discipline.”

“Easy for you to say, daddy’s girl!”

“Father doesn’t favour me by THAT much more than you, Shogo. He still hasn’t forgiven me for being sixteen when I had Tomo.”

“Wooh boy” Shogo whistled, “Now THAT was some rage that night.”

“I remember.”

“But yet he still treats you better than me! Like you are destined to take over the entire Yakuza!”

“Shogo, I wrote that short story for you the other day as something of a joke. I don’t think you fully understand how the Yakuza works, little airheaded baby brother.”

“Yes I do and no I’m not! For real, father treats you like his little angel compared to me! He hates me!”

“Shogo, you should know by now that father’s truly terrible at openly expressing emotions like you and me are. And frankly, with who he’s married to I’m not very surprised. Maybe he’s just harder on you than me because you’re his son, maybe because of mother’s spoiling of you, maybe I’m just having wishful thinking. Also if I am a daddy’s girl then you’re a momma’s boy.”

“I am not!”

“Oh please. Biggest lie you’ve ever said.”

“Hmph!”

“Shogo, look, I’m doing this because I love you. I know you think I hate you but I promise you that couldn’t be further from the truth. You need to stop thinking that the definition of someone loving you is someone who spoils and dotes on you all the time.”

“Shut up…mother’s not a bad mom.”

“Oh really? Have you seen the way she treats Tomo? I know you love Tomo and you know Tomo loves you. She has not once called him her grandson, she calls him trash, calls him hafu like it’s a racial slur, and treats both him and me like we’re hardly her family half the time. Sometimes I wonder if she even is our real mother.”

“I should tell her you just said that.”

“Go ahead! She’s not going to care! The only one she’d even want as her child is you anyway!”

“Well then why don’t you take a DNA test and prove it to yourself?!”

“Shogo, just……just……let’s just get this day over with, okay? You have a lot more apologizing to do.”

“UGH.”

“It really hurts you to be nice to people, don’t it?”

“These people don’t deserve kindness!”

“Not even Carlos?”

“Okay…MOST of these people don’t deserve kindness.”

“Well too bad, I’m going to make sure to pay all of them back for what you did.”

“Ugh”

With that groan, Shogo was taken to the rest of the Saints one by one. Since he only messed up the home of Gat and Aisha, the others were relatively more merciful. At least, Shaundi was. She only had Shogo take out her trash and help change an unrelated flat tire on her car. Both of which he was able to do. Pierce on the other hand made Shogo repaint  his entire bedroom and reorganize all of his music collection. Lin didn’t let Shogo anywhere near her prized car, but did make Shogo repaint her house, water her garden and do her grocery shopping. Once more, he did everything she asked of him to do - as Kiyumi enforced it. Shogo even mailed an apology letter to Police Chief Troy Bradshaw who was also a member of the Saints in the game in the ‘old days’, only because Kiyumi knew that walking into the police station with Shogo was just asking for it.

Even after that though, Kiyumi’s punishing of her younger brother was not finished yet. He still had two more people to visit, and the second to last one was not one he was looking forward to at all - equal to his enthusiasm over ‘visiting’ Gat and Aisha.

‘The Boss’. Or, as this person was known in real life, Shane Galtero Pecore Ceniza. Or just Shane Ceniza, Shane, ‘Boss Shane’ or as said before ‘The Boss’. He was actually a pretty good looking filipino man, with skin even notably tanner than Shogo’s - due in part to his tan being more ‘natural’ - and his hair was cut short with purple dye on the back. He spoke with something of an hispanic accent and like other saints members wore purple, and wasn’t ashamed to look casual once in a while. He was also buffer than Shogo was and had a few ear piercings on but was dressed rather casually as he answered his door and came face to face with Shogo and his sister in the flesh.

“Well well well, this is a pleasant surprise” Shane sarcastically greeted with, “I didn’t know it was christmas already.”

“Baby brother” Kiyumi said to the both angry and scared Shogo, “Tell the man why you’re here.”

“I’m…ugh, here to apologize for sending you threatening emails using my sister’s email account, for harassing you and your friends, and for anything else I may have done wrong to you.”

“Heh” Shane lightly laughed at the sight of this, it was hard for him to keep a straight face, especially when he knew him laughing embarrassed Shogo even more. Still though, he held it in enough to sound sarcastic yet serious when he said, “I don’t think just one apology is enough.”

“Of course you don’t.”

Shogo got nudged by Kiyumi for the ‘sass’.

“Sorry for the sass…….sir.”

“Sir, Sir. Now I like the sound of that.”

“Hmph.”

“Don’t worry” Kiyumi assured him, “Any damage done to your property will be covered by him. I promise you, and he’ll do anything you ask of him to make it up to you.”

“Oh, that’s no worry, luckily for him he didn’t damage any of my stuff” Shane replied, “However, now that you mention that last part, I do have some laundry to pick up at the dry cleaners, oh and my toilet could use some unclogging too.”

“Baby Brother?”

“I’m on it” Shogo grumbled, “I’m on it.”

Shane gestured Shogo to where the bathroom was as the boy grumbled and went to unclog the toilet with the available plunger. Shane actually offered Kiyumi a drink at his place while they waited for Shogo’s chores to be finished. The two actually ended up laughing at Shogo’s expense over the course of the wait for him to get back with the laundry:

“Wow!” Shane said through a laugh, “You actually dyed his hair pink once?”

“Yes” Kiyumi nodded with a smirk of her own, “It’s what he got for peeping on my slumber party.”

“Hahahaha, damn, how long did it stay like that?”

“Longer than he hoped it would.”

“Hahahahaha!”

“That’s not all though, one time Kameko got tired of him hitting on her, so she let him hug her.”

“Yeah?”  
  
“But on his back, she put a sign reading ‘I’ve been a bad boy, please spank and/or grope me’.”

“Pffthahah!” Shane actually slapped his knee with that laugh, outright bursting out with laughter at not only the mental imagery of the sign on Shogo’s back, but also the imagery of him walking around with it for an extended period of time. “Oh my god! I would pay money to see a pic of that! Ha!”

“I know, it was funny, he walked surprisingly far actually.”

“HA!” once more the man slapped his knee in his laughter, “Wow. You know, for Shogo’s sister you’re pretty cool to hang out with.”

“I’m just as much a victim of him as everyone else” Kiyumi joked, “But no, really he’s not all bad. When he’s with his nephew he does appear to be a nice person, at least from what I’m able to see.”

“He has a nephew?”  
  
“Yes, my son Tomoyuki, or Tomo for short. The sweetest little boy you’d ever meet.”

“A Ronin? Sweet? Really?”

“Ha, I know it’s hard to believe, even I’ve taken down my share of people, but Tomo is as innocent as they come. To be honest I don’t know if I want him to really partake in the lifestyle of a Ronin.”

“I see.”

“But point is, at the same time, while Shogo does appear nice with Tomo at first, I always have it in the back of my mind that one day he’s going to get Tomo hurt, killed, or even make him start doing the same reckless and criminal stuff that he’s doing to himself.”

“You don’t do that stuff yourself?”

“Oh boy…” Kiyumi sighed, “Admittedly, I used to. When I was in my teenager years, I was actually more similar to Shogo in attitude now that I look back on it.”

“Oh really?”

“But once I got pregnant with Tomoyuki, I promised myself that I would change. Sometimes I wonder if Shogo just needs a similar incentive, but I know he sure as hell isn’t ready to be a parent anytime soon.”

“Ha, oh boy, I agree with you on that….unless, you think he ever knocked up a girl and just denied it or doesn’t know about it?”

“It wouldn’t completely shock me to be honest. Especially if we’re talking about the past. Really just the thought of something like that is enough to make me continue thinking I shouldn’t let him hang out with Tomo so much, but Tomo really loves to spend time with his uncle, so I try to give Shogo the benefit of the doubt.”

“Heh, I don’t know if I would be so generous to him.”

“Oh you have kids too?”  
  
“Wha? Oh no, I don’t have any kids around here, haha” Shane responded, “Like your brother I’m just not ready for that kind of shit just yet.”

“I understand. I wasn’t ‘ready’ for Tomo, but, I guess he was ready for me.”

“Haha.”

“Ahem” and that’s when their attention was drawn to Shogo, who was at the door of the room carrying the fresh laundry.

“Oh, Shogo! I didn’t see you there.” Kiyumi replied.

“See you got my laundry” Shane commented, walking over and inspecting the laundry as he took it into his hands, “Mmhmm, nice and spotless, not a scratch, not even a ruffle. Good boy.”

“Thank you………..sir.” Shogo still grumbled.

“Well, Baby Brother, only one more person for you to apologize to and it’s over” Kiyumi said as she escorted Shogo out of Shane’s house and back into the car with Jyunichi joining them, “And I saved the merciful one to you for last.”

“Hmph.”

“What?”

“You really think I’m a piece of shit, don’t you?”  
  
“Shogo…we already..”

“I overheard what you said about how much you ‘trust’ me to hang out with Tomo.”

“Oh…..”

“Kiyumi, you know what, I, I can’t take it anymore. You’re making me do this all goddamn day and apparently you just want to humiliate me further by talking about me behind my back to people! Do you have any idea how that makes ME feel?! I’M YOUR BROTHER! THEY’RE PRACTICALLY STRANGERS TO YOU! AND THEN YOU SUGGEST THAT I WOULD HURT TOMO?!”

“I didn’t say you would hurt him! I just said I’m worried you may one day get him on drugs, alcohol and murdering people!”

“No no no no no no! You said before that something about me getting him and myself killed! That counts for saying that I would hurt him!”

“Sho-”

“You know what, I don’t want to talk to you right now, sis.” Shogo folded his arms and turned away from her with a hurt look to his face, “Just take me to Carlos so we can get this nightmare over with.”

“Shogo….”  
  
“PLEASE.”

“Let’s go, Kiyumi” Jyunichi said respectfully, “As he wishes.”

“Very well.” and now feeling guilty for what she was saying before, Kiyumi drove to the next and final destination on her list of ‘punishing’ her brother. This time, to the apartment residence of Carlos Mendoza who was not at his workplace anymore because the sun was far into setting by this time of day. Like with the previous locations, Kiyumi escorted Shogo to the door of Carlos’ apartment and knocked on the door. After a few moments, Carlos - cute face as adorable as Shogo’s own, purple pants, sleeveless white shirt, cute purple beanie, dark shaved short hair and both latino heritage and accent - answered the door.

“Sho? Kiyumi? What’s up?”

“Carlos, she’s….punishing me…..”

“Oh yeah? For what?”

“Well I’m sure your Saints friends told you about what he did to Johnny and Aisha’s house.” Kiyumi answered.

“Si, pretty sure the entire town heard about it.”

“Well, Shogo” she said to her brother, “Tell Carlos what else you did.”

“I….used Kiyumi’s email to send them threatening emails too. Almost got her arrested.”

“Wow” Carlos was amazed, “That’s….that’s so you.”

“Hmph.”

“Well, point is, he’s more than willing to do anything for you to make up for anything bad he caused upon you.”

“Well, I think I could use some help around here. Come on.”, and Carlos gestured Shogo inside of his apartment. Shogo rolled his eyes but went in. This time, Kiyumi opted to wait outside with Jyunichi as the door closed and the two younger males were alone.

“So…what’s it gonna be, Carlos?” Shogo replied, “Gonna humiliate me?”  
  
“Eh, just inside these walls” Carlos replied with a smirk, “But um, how did you even get everyone’s emails?”

“My buddy Matt.”

“From the Brotherhood?”  
  
“No, British guy. Matt Miller. He uses the Steelport world most of the time, is part of this ‘Syndicate’ group. He’s like a total expert hacker both online and offline.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So…..over being buried alive, huh?”  
  
“You didn’t want revenge for me?!”

“They’re my friends and I was dragged by a chain across the road” Carlos responded, “I mean, it’s just a game. That, and I died before you did.”

“……true…..”

“So, now, onto your punishment.”

“Oh boy…..”

“I think this place could use a little cleaning and organization, to be honest” Carlos said as he looked around his apartment, “But, there is a catch…”  
  
“Which it is?”

A few moments later, Shogo was dusting, cleaning and organizing Carlos’ apartment….dressed only in a yellow tank top and black short shorts that definitely showed enough of his rear end to make Carlos enjoy it in more ways than one. Shogo however, only had this to say:

“This….is…..degrading.”

“Heeeeey, it’s only me seein’ you like this, don’t worry.”

“Still, degrading.”

“Like you don’t enjoy this.”

“Not when I’m being forced to do ‘work’!”

“Less complaining more cleaning.”

“Hmph” and Shogo got to work. He kept complaining of course, but more under his breath. Carlos smirked though and just enjoyed both the work and the view, so to speak. At least with Carlos though, Shogo got a hug and a kiss  - and a ‘booty grab’ - after he was finished and was able to dress back into his previous clothes before Carlos opened the door and sent him back to Jyunichi and Kiyumi.

“See later Sho”

“By later you mean tomorrow, right?”

“Well, yeah. And behave.”

“I can’t make promises on that, depending on how you want me to behave~”

“Heh, well, at least now I know how I can punish you~”

“You’re lucky you’re you, Carlos.”

“Hahaha”

The moment Shogo was back in that car though, the first thing he did was sigh of complete and total relief that his punishment was over. First thing he said:

“NOW can we go back home?”

“Yes, little brother” Kiyumi replied as she began driving again, “We’re heading home now.”

“Good.”

“Look……I’m sorry for talking bad of you to those people, I, I just got carried away with such pleasant conversations….”

“Kiyumi, save it, I’m used to this kind of crap from you.”

“Shogo…” Kiyumi sighed, “I’ve only done this because I love you. Someone needs to teach you that actions have consequences….what if you actually did get buried alive for doing something stupid? To be honest, I was half hoping an experience like that game would’ve taught you what would happen if I or Jyunichi weren’t there to save you all the time.”

“I don’t need you to save me.”

“The baseball incident?”

“That…..I was outnumbered! Could’ve taken them on by myself if you gave me a little more time!”

“Yeah…..right. You could hardly take on any of them individually, which they were trying to make you do. But it was alright, I was there to defeat them and save you.”

“Hmph.”

“That’s not how you reacted when it was happening.”

“I was…I was not thinking clearly!”

“Alright, alright. Point is, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings…….but, you really did need to be punished. I hope you learned SOMETHING today.”

“Not to do this again.”

“It works….”

“But for real, sister…..why can’t you trust me with Tomo?”

“Shogo we already talked about this.”

“Jyunichi” Shogo turned to Jyunichi, still in the backseat, “Tell me, or us, your opinion. Do you think Tomo could stand to be babied at least a little less?”

“………” Jyunichi was silent at first, unsure if he should actually speak up his opinion, but after some thought he did, “To tell my honest opinion, I actually do agree with Shogo somewhat on the subject.”

Kiyumi sighed.

“It’s….it’s difficult, alright?” she admitted, “It’s difficult for me to let go of him, I’ll admit. I just want to wrap him up in a little blanket and cradle him all day sometimes, but I know I can’t. Maybe my desperation to show him as much love as possible did go a little too far…..”

“Sister…..you can’t stop him from growing up. I mean, at the rate you’re going you’re gonna end up turning him into either Norman Bates or beyond rebellious of you when he grows older.”

“I….I know….”

“Kiyumi,  just trust me, okay? I wouldn’t dream of hurting him. The kid loves hangin’ with me! You said it yourself, most the time you come here it’s because he wants to come visit me!”

“True….” and then Kiyumi sighed again, “Okay…I’ll try to keep my worries to myself and relax my protection of him a little bit…..but, it’s going to be hard to….”

“Finally” Shogo remarked, “But, one question…um….wait, nevermind.”

“What was it?”  
  
“Nothing.”

“Tell me what you were going to say.”

“Nothing!”

“Alright, alright.”

“Heheh…..” Shogo was actually going to ask if Kiyumi ever did or considered putting ‘wires’ or cameras on him or Tomo, which she surprisingly did not do, but he knew it best not to give her the idea.

After a short one or two hours of a drive back home, Shogo didn’t pay attention to the time as much he did the music on the radio, they returned to Tohoku Towers. Upon entering the door to their top floor suite, the first thing they saw was Kameko sitting on Shogo’s usual ‘relaxing’ chair while Tomo played with Shogo’s yapping dog and his Ultor Suncast console.

“You’re back!” Tomo exclaimed once he saw his mother, Shogo and Jyunichi returning. He ran up and gave happy hugs to them.

“Yeah, we sure are kiddo” Shogo smiled, patting Tomo’s head. He also pet his dog on the head as it was quite happy to see Shogo again too.

“It’s about time too” Kameko answered, “I was about to consider going out on a hunt for you three.”

“Ha” Kiyumi laughed a bit, “Well thankfully that wasn’t necessary.”

“Uncle Shogo, you wanna play some SA2 with me tonight?” Tomo asked to his uncle, referring to ‘Solar Adventure 2’, a game they played together often during Tomo’s visits.

“Heh, maybe later squirt” Shogo said as he yawned, “Uncle Shogo’s tired as heck right now.”

“Awwwwww!”

“Tomo” Kiyumi spoke, “Let your uncle have his rest.”

“Okay….but tomorrow for sure, right?”

“Totally.” and with that, Shogo retired himself off to his bedroom. The moment he was in his silk pajamas, he literally just let himself collapse onto the bed and surrender to the temptation that was sleep. Not long after he went to sleep, most of the others staying in the suite were asleep in their own beds.

At least the events of this day were all over, but whether or not anyone would actually change because of them is another story in and of itself, and one that would have to wait until sunrise to be seen anyway. For the time, all Shogo cared about was resting his eyes and body after what was pretty much the hardest day of his offline life.

The next day, at roughly 1:30 pm:

Shogo walked into the office of Dane Vogel now actually on time, fully dressed, fully excerised and fully pampered. He didn’t bring Tomo with him today, but did have his classic smirk on his face. He was still the same old Shogo, just perhaps a little bit more mindful of how he manages his temper ‘tantrums’.  As always:

“Sup, D? On time today~”

“I see, Shogo, I see.” Dane replied as he closed his own laptop, a look of irritation on his face. Shogo noticed it.

“What’s up? Did I do something wrong?”  
  
“Oh no, you didn’t. It’s just, well, let’s just say that I was just coming up with ideas to enhance the experience of Saints Row.”

“Oh yeah?”  
  
“Yes, I’m not sure if I should tell you though. Perhaps I should save it for more, appropriate people.”

“C’moooooon! I can’t get a little sneak peak of what goes inside your head for that game?”

“Alright. Well, since you are a partner with us offline” Vogel remarked, “I’m thinking of incorporating an ‘Afterlife’ world expansion into the game now. Where deceased characters can interact and play around in either heaven or hell.”

“Sweet! I like it!”

“I thought you might.”  
  
“May I ask what inspired this sudden idea though?”

“Let’s just say, I had an epiphany.”

“Kay.”

“Speaking of worlds though, I must say, the ability for users to create their own custom worlds is something I’m beginning to regret adding.”

“You can make custom worlds now?”

“Yes. Of course one has to pay extra for it. All I’m going to say is that someone decided to make some world called ‘Uganda’ and, well, it terrifies me.”

“…..what?”

“Nevermind, we’re getting off topic. We have business to discuss.”

“Look, Dane…if it’s about what I did to the Saints, I know…okay? I’ll, I’ll take you up on the offer for anger management classes!”

“What?”  
  
“….that’s…not what this was about?”

“Um…no……not at all.”  
  
“Oh, then, um, sorry.”

“It’s about a movie deal. You see, we’re making something of a crossover movie featuring tons of characters from the history of video games, and of course, Solar will be featured in it. Which means…”  
  
“I…I get to be on the big screen?!”

“Well, your voice will, but yes.”

“YES!” Shogo bumped his fist, “I’M GONNA BE IN A MOVIE! WOOH!”

“I must say your enthusiasm is good to see” Vogel commented, “Now if I were you, I’d get ready for your daily recording session.”

“Oh trust me, I’m all over that! Yes! I can see it now, I’ll be on the walk of fame in no time! Yeah!” and Shogo walked out the door to Dane’s office cheering to himself all the way. Dane himself just went back to his paperwork.

Such is the life of Shogo Akuji.

**Author's Note:**

> Something of a rewrite of my "Holiday with the Akujis" story. The idea of an AU where SR is legit a game actually does come from another fanfic I read once that I found very interesting, but I made sure to not just copy the idea. This was also based off an RP I had with a friend, and I had a lot of fun writing this. I will try to go back and fix any typos if I notice them. I type very fast sometimes without looking at what button I am pressing.


End file.
